The DSF has signed a strategic partnership with Hewlett Packard and EMPA, with a dual objective: protect the population from the damaging effects of e-waste and create jobs in the recycling sector.

 

 

he DSF’s work to promote a more equitable information society involves supplying digital equipment, such as computers, monitors, printers, scanners, photocopiers, and so on. As this highly sophisticated equipment contains toxic components (including mercury, cadmium, lead, beryllium, arsenic and even lithium), the DSF must make provision for the management of this equipment when it reaches the end of its useful life.

Volumes of electronic waste are increasing rapidly. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that more than 50 million tonnes of electronic waste are generated every year. Therefore, we must ensure that the transfer of technology to developing countries does not prove to be more of a curse than a blessing. In such countries, e-waste is often not treated appropriately, exposing the population to serious illnesses. That is the case with the incineration of cables to recover the copper or the leaching of gold with cyanide in the open air. These processes produce extremely toxic and carcinogenic chemical substances and flame retardants. Moreover, the burying of part of this waste leads to contamination of the soil and groundwater.

Consequently, the DSF has decided to focus – through a partnership with Hewlett Packard and EMPA – on ways of effectively managing electronic waste. The “e-Waste Management in Africa” programme, launched in late 2007, should lead to concrete actions for the African continent, with a view to:

• Protecting the people of Africa and their environment from the damagingeffects of e-waste;
• Making the e-waste processing sector more viable by creating jobs and seeking to improve working conditions.

In this edition, we present the launch of the programme in Morocco, Kenya, Senegal and South Africa.